A Four by Four production in association with Two Rivers Theatre Company
It’s just a ordinary park bench, but it means the world to Charles, who used to regularly rest on it with his late wife Rose. Charles still feels Rose’s presence when he’s there and chats to her in his head as if she’s still beside him. Then along comes Ian, stressed and harassed in his lunch hour he tells Charles his troubles and even gets him to chat to his wife Linda on the phone – we meet Linda later in the play. Next comes young, single mother Stacey pushing a pram and desperately trying to get her baby to sleep, and finally a married couple, Tina and Colin, who are geocaching, rucksacks on their backs full of flasks of tea and egg sandwiches.
All very ordinary people, with ordinary lives, who come together at this one park bench.
There’s almost a ‘Sliding Doors’ element to the play, with co-incidence and people passing in time being at the heart of how these characters all meet and eventually become entangled in each others lives. Ashley Burgoyne has written a very dialogue heavy script, and with the action never moving from the park, or far from the bench itself, the pace does drop from time to time but it’s a humorous piece and a sweet story with relationships and helping out others at its heart.
Terry Palmer plays Charles with a lot of sensitivity, you can feel how much he adored his wife and how he is at something of a loss without her. Jonathan Search, as middle aged, middle class, middle management Ian, becomes a great pal to Charles and portrays him very well, firstly as the tired office working trying to sort out his problems at home then getting a new lease of life as he untangles the problems in Charles’ situation.
Ian’s wife, Linda, played by Christina Search, loosens up from the uptight jealous spouse to again someone with a new lease of life in her marriage and the new found community around the bench. This can be seen very clearly in how she takes single mother Stacey, played by Natasha Goldberg, under her wing. Stacey gets some great lines in the play and I particularly liked her mobile phone conversation with best friend Shel on the outrageous nature of her love life.
There was more than a hint of Howard and Hilda ( for those who remember Ever Decreasing Circles) about comic duo Colin, played by Darren Prentice and Tina, played by Petra Risbridger, the geocaching couple who zip up and down the park looking for clues or caches in the worldwide game. They get a lot of the comedic lines in the play and provide a lot of funny moments, especially at the end when their well intentioned meddling brings everything to a conclusion.
The Park Bench is at The Sir John Mills Theatre 20th and 21st September – there’s a 7.30pm performance tonight 20th and a 2.30pm matinee on 21st ( no evening performance)
Tickets can be bought online at the Eastern Angles Website or on the door
SUFFOLK THEATRE 